Dear Reader,
As I mentioned last week I have a few things going on, so will be back with regularly scheduled programming next week and a focus on Devi Lockwood’s new book 1,001 Voices on Climate Change.
In the meantime, herewith a few glimpses from my current stay in the Maine woods and a follow-on to last week’s consideration of Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake.
My rambles here have reminded me of a word I learned from my mum: flaithiúil in the Irish language and pronounced ‘fla-HOOL’ means generous, and open-handed.
What I always see in this forest but never more than this wet year is the fecundity of the fungal life here. Mutualism, symbiosis, and parasitism are all in play, but the extravagant generosity of the mycological world here is a revelation. It makes we wonder, as Sheldrake suggests, whether they are the gardeners and we are all just flowers in their garden.
It’s not just the fungi of course. Pines are soaring, grouse are flushing with busy beating wings, leaves are turning, and the river is running high with all the rain.
See you next week.
xo Nicie
P.S. My identifications are thanks to the Seek app from iNaturalist. Happy to be corrected and informed if you have more insight!